A dog who has served as a university’s live mascot for nearly five years is training his replacement before he retires.
Baloo is a Saint Bernard who became the live mascot of Siena University in New York back in 2021. He has become a familiar face at basketball games and campus events, posing for hundreds of photographs with students and fans.
Now, with Baloo approaching his seventh birthday, the university has introduced three-month-old Baby Baloo, another Saint Bernard that is being trained to take over the role next year.
Baby Baloo begins mascot training
Baby Baloo is set to accompany his predecessor to home games throughout the season, learning appropriate behavior from the older dog.
“The way dogs work is they mimic a lot of behaviors and, so, repetition is a big thing for them,” their handler, Charles Rice told TimesUnion. “Basically, Baby Baloo is literally just following suit with whatever he sees Baloo doing.”
During an exhibition match against Syracuse at the MVP Arena, Baby Baloo wore a vest that says “In Training, Do Not Pet.” Rice said he will probably wear the vest until January.
“Really, what it is, is to help him learn to self-regulate,” Rice continued. “There’s just a lot of chaos that happens during the game. There’s a lot of sights and sounds and things like that. He’ll stay focused on me, learn to relax.”
Baby Baloo currently weighs around 40 lbs, but is expected to grow to around 190 lbs, potentially making him even bigger than the 160-pound Baloo.
Baloo is expected to retire at the end of this academic year, leaving Baby Baloo to become the university’s sole mascot in 2027.
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